Sunday, October 23, 2011

Hello, Kristin Battestella

1: Thank you so much for
being here, Kristin! First up is the obligatory question. When did you first
begin writing?

Strangely, if it’s that obligatory, I’m not asked it
that often, or as often as I should be!
I actually just filed some other work on my shelf and when I did so,
discovered some of my incredibly old- as in juvenile- writing work. Most of them said 89 and 90! So I suppose my
first attempts were before 10 and before I knew much of anything. One even said, I swear, ‘Illustrated by the
Arthur’. Really showed my spelling
prowess there! I don’t think I
considered myself as a serious writer until I was in high school and
accumulated a few lovely rejection slips! I write stories, but I don’t consider
myself a big fancy author or anything.

2: What inspired you to
write?

Honestly, the thing that inspires me to write most
is me. I just have an ever on brain- for
better or worse- and I am in constant observation and thought about what makes individuals
tick, how a person reacts to situations around them, and what kind of story
needs to be told there. I have one of those idea notebooks, and I don’t know if
I’ll ever get to all the snips in it!
Dreams as well inspire me. I wake
up with something bizarre and have to write it down- maybe it will be something
worthwhile, maybe not. But I enjoy the
pursuit of plot bunnies. When I was
younger, I tried to keep all these twisted tales in my head until one day I
just came to the conclusion that I should write it all down. Not only would I remember it all, but
sometimes you are so excited by a good story that it must be told. I definitely think any artistic inspiration
has to come from within. If you are
writing just for the book sales or to strike while a theme is hot in ruthless
media packaging, I think you’re in the wrong line of work. Writing is personal, intimate, and the whole
joy is sharing that mental communication with others, who may in turn be
inspired and entertained. Whew!

3: What do you like the most
and least about writing?

Most, I like the euphoria and eureka of the
composition. That getting it out on the
page in a fury as if this is what God placed you on earth to do. I love the notions of telepathy and time
travel. When a reader reads something I
wrote, they are going back to me where I was at that moment in a shared
collective storytelling. For me, that is
the human condition- or as we should be- in a nutshell. What I don’t like is the increasing need for
social media as the number one tool of marketing. Yes authors have to promote
themselves- none of that mysterious churning out of manuscripts from an
isolated wintry cabin. Sometimes I just feel as if the social media chasing is
spitting in the internet wind. If
everyone is doing it, how can one individual writing voice be heard? You spend
all this time being unique and crafting something unique and special only to
butcher it into catchy and misspelled 140 character bursts? I’d much rather talk with a group of people
in a chat or on a forum where you can make a virtual connection with whom you
are speaking. Internet community should
bring us together, not have us resort to bad grammar. End rant. But I do love idea, inspiration, from God’s
lips to my hands and then readers’ eyes.
Amen!

4: What do you for fun and
relaxation when not writing?

At its height, writing is relaxing and fun. If you don’t find some part of the craft
enjoyable, again, you are in the wrong profession. Otherwise I do other creative things. I watch a lot of movies, review and non
fiction work, read books of course- though not as much if I’m on a
project. I get in sewing streaks and
collect records. Just dumb and boring
stuff like everyone else. I play ice
hockey and like to go ice skating, but there is an element of physicality in
that, brute relaxation.

5: Which authors do you like
to read?

I’m becoming more and more old fashioned and tend to
return to the classics- again I get streaky and obsessive. Recently I’ve been reading the Sharpe Series
by Bernard Cornwell. I love Dickens and
Asimov, Tolkien. Love love Hornblower,
and Anne Rice was in there somewhere too.
I remember when she was the only vampire writer around. Now they’re everywhere and no one reads the
pulp sf classics of old. I like
Arthurian works as well, and used to be very into comic books back in the
day. Now I wouldn’t even know where to
begin with those! The same with the Star
Wars books. Once you loose track of the
universe, it’s tough to jump back into it.
I’m sure I’m forgetting some authors, as I don’t always go by an
author. I go with whatever strikes me at
the time. Biblical and non fiction
material. Love the Brontes but major no
to Jane Austen. Not my bag at all.

6: What’s the one thing you’d
most like people to know about you?

Wow. Honesty?
Sincerity? I don’t know. I remember
going on a job interview once where I went on about spending time with a
customer and giving them the attention they need. Then I realized the guy was looking at me
like I was completely full of shit. Afterward, that really angered me. I felt like going back and saying, how dare
you judge me and think I was giving you some line? Eventually I would love to go back to school
and be a minister, and he was some dude thinking I was being an ass by saying
people were more important to me than the bottom line. If I say it, I
mean. I wouldn’t want to be
intellectually dismissed or personally brushed off by anyone, and I try and
treat people the same way. I’m not interested in plugging up my ears and
twiddling my thumbs over some gizmo.
There’s so much more going on than that.
Know this, I suppose. Awesome
questions, Roseanne!

7: Tell me about your current
novel, where I can find it and your website/blog.

Fate
and Fangs: Tales from the Vampire Family is my ongoing
series with Muse it Up Publishing. Book
3 Struggle: Elizabeth
in Americais out this month. These novellas
are each about a vampire theme and one or two individuals from my 2008 novel The Vampire Family, also still available
in paperback with Eternal Press. Struggle is a somewhat solitary tale, as
Elizabeth
explores who she is as a vampire and an animal against her humanity. When confronted with Rain and his Native
American ideas, it throws another wrench into it all. All the details plus more
from Books 1 and 2, Love: Ann and the
Viking and Punishment: Lilith’s
Trials are also on my blog, http://vampfam.blogspot.com

8: Do you have any tips for
aspiring authors?

I think it is essential to write for yourself and
the story you need to tell first and foremost.
Don’t write for the trend or because something is hot. I’ve been doing several Publishing Q&As
with the New Jersey Authors Network, and a lot of folks want to know about
where to publish or agents and they don’t have completed works yet. Do you research, know what you want to tell,
but make the best dang tale possible first.
Really, some people don’t write for publication at all- years ago folks
used to correspond or journal because they wanted to do so. Some write still as therapy. Tell your tale and write a dang good
story. Everything else will come.

9: Do
you base your characters on real-life people?

I imagine there must be ideas and twitches and
suggestion from real life, but for the most part, no. Characters are imagination to me. I like the idea of establishing a character
in one notion, then have it totally manifest itself through the writing as
something else.

10: Where
do you get your ideas and what inspired you to write this book?

I began working in The Vampire Family universe initially in
high school. I just began combining
vampire myths and ideas that I wasn’t seeing elsewhere. I wrote something that was interesting to
me. The analysis of light and dark and
familial responsibilities and punishments using the mirror of the fantastic- now
of course, it’s an entire different vampire genre. I like my vamps old school, scary, with
consequences and maturity. The ideas
come from everywhere and anywhere. Take
out the earpuds and put up the phone, stop and listen, smell the roses, and
you’ll be surprised the twisted and wicked things that will enter one’s head!

11: What are you currently
working on?

It’s taking me forever to finish the next full
length vampfam material, as I’m always stopping to do other fiction and non
fiction. I was editing with fellow EPer
Leigh Wood on some kinky fantasy horny unicorn thing. It’s not normally what I like, but it was a
great mature read with a lot of that consequence I mentioned. I have to vary up
my work, not drone out the same thing straightaway. I don’t want to be stale. I set something aside and let my mind stew on
it, yearn for the players and plot changes again. It also gives me time to think of better
titles. Requiem for The Vampire Family and then maybe if it gets to big and
is split, that would be The Vampire
Family Forever. I stink at titles.
That is what I’m always working on!

“The Spirit is both man and animal. You are
both woman and the wolf, unsure of the light and the dark.”

“Do you not fear the wolf?

“It is you who fears the wolf. The woman is the light and the wolf is the
darkness. We will release the wolf and
free The Spirit.”

Oddly
enough, I found there was a logic to his beliefs. Did the people here discover some sort of
balance between nature and civilization, good and evil? If I didn’t know better, I might think he
spoke of a vampire already! Was there another here like our kind? I wouldn’t put it past our maker Mestiphles
or his henchwoman Lilith to feast upon these people.

“How can
the Spirit release the wolf?”

“My forefather told of my coming in the great
storm at the big river’s crossing. He said I would live long, see many moons,
but never grow old. So I wait for her.
The Spirit will answer all.”

I enjoyed the interview. As usual, I'm playing catch up and apologize to all the authors I've missed this month on Ro's blog. She does a great interview that produces some awesome answers. Kristin did a wonderful job. For someone so young, she's pretty savvy. :)

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About Me

As the second youngest of six children, I always had a vivid imagination and loved to make up stories. I often sat and daydreamed about imaginary characters and lost myself in books and make-believe worlds.
My love of writing began as a teenager, but only recently pursued it seriously. With encouragement from fellow book-club members, NEORWA and my husband, I began writing and submitting my work.
Although Satin Sheets was my first published novel, I have over forty articles and stories published in magazines such as Good Old Days, Nostalgia, and Ohio Writer along with several online publications.
Besides teaching three writing courses for Long Story School of Writing, I taught a writing course at Cuyahoga Community College.
In my spare time, I enjoys spending time with my six children, fourteen grandchildren and great grandchildren. My hobbies include ceramics, knitting, quilting, and jewelry making. But after my family, my first love is writing. I reside with my husband of forty-eight years in Northeast Ohio. You can visit my website at: http://www.roseannedowell.com